A Bit of Bunting
A new history of the British Empire elevates expediency to principle
Book Review
France's Downfall
The most comprehensive account of the most sordid period in French history
New & Noteworthy
A sly and sublime historical novel; disappointing Didion; coming of age in Hollywood
Hustler With a Lyric Voice
Edna St. Vincent Millay combined a modern sensibility with traditional forms
An Observer of Catastrophe
In Sybille Bedford's work the great emotional and moral questions remain unanswered
Bozzy's Life
A dazzling portrait of James Boswell as a literary artist
New & Noteworthy
This fall's hot novel; Rushdie's latest; correcting the blather about "globalization"
The Country and the City
With her inclusion in The Library of America, the neglected novelist Dawn Powell has finally achieved literary canonization. Our critic assesses the contrasting worlds of Powell's fiction
New and Noteworthy
The summer game, sharp short fiction, are you U?, Hitchens on Ferdinand Mount
The Mistress of Gloom
Anita Brookner "has always been ready to strip her heroines of the illusion that they can actually get what they want"